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Sickness Absence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff in her Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years. [109260]

Alun Michael: There is no central definition of what constitutes long-term sickness absence, but this Department, as part of its ongoing commitment to the effective management of sickness absence routinely records and monitors all sickness absence and automatically refers cases to its Occupational Health Adviser when an absence has reached 90 days.

30 Apr 2003 : Column 384W

Defra was created in 2001 and the following figures reflect such referrals and cover staff in the core Department and Veterinary Medicines Directorate and Pesticides Safety Directorate Agencies, for absences beginning in the years listed:

Year
2001	127
2002	107

Responsibility for attendance matters within the Central Science Laboratory Agency, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, the Rural Payments Agency and the Centre for Environmental Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Agency has been delegated to Chief Executives and they have been asked to reply direct on this issue.

Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. John Bercow, dated 15 April 2003:

I have been asked to respond directly to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning sick leave absence.

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years.

Information on the number of staff who were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years is not available for the Rural Payments Agency. RPA is a relatively new organisation formed in October 2001. RPA is still developing a computerised Personnel System to provide sickness absence data of the kind requested. Specific information on numbers of staff on long term sick leave could only be obtained at disproportionate administrative cost and time, but the Agency refers cases to the Medical Adviser as appropriate.

RPA is committed to managing sickness absence effectively and to meeting targets for reducing sickness absence as set out in the Agency's Business Plan for 2003–04.

RPA has developed a sickness absence management policy and procedures, that includes a revised strategy for managing long term sickness absence, for implementation from May 2003.

Letter from Peter Greig-Smith to Mr. J. Bercow, dated April 2003:

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply to your question regarding how many staff were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years. I am replying on behalf of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS).

For CEFAS staff, a review point of 60 days (i.e. 2 months or more) is used to define long term absence. During the past five years, the numbers of staff on long term absence were as follows:

Year
1998	2
1999	3
2000	10
2001	9
2002	7

CEFAS has successfully introduced a scheme for 'Return to Workplace' interviews and is fully committed to managing attendance effectively. We are on target for achieving the reduced levels of sickness absence we have set out for the Agency.

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Letter from Professor Mike Roberts to Mr. John Bercow, dated 15 April 2003:

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply, with respect to the Central Science Laboratory, to your question concerning how many staff were on long-term sick leave in each of the last five years.

CSL has no formal definition of what constitutes "long-term" sick leave but does automatically refer to Occupational Health all staff who are absent for more than 90 days. Our records show that the numbers of staff on long-term sick leave (i.e. exceeding the 90-day absence referral point) were as follows:

Year
1998	2
1999	4
2000	3
2001	7
2002	7

CSL has been successful in managing sickness absence through innovations such as recruiting a dedicated Occupational Health professional, running regular health awareness campaigns and carrying out all-staff health surveys. The organisation remains committed to the continued effective management of sickness absence.

Letter from Steven Edwards to Mr. John Bercow, dated April 2003:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question on how many staff in her Department were on long-term sick leave in each of the last five years.

There is no central definition of what constitutes long-term sick absence. VLA has adopted a pro-active stance to monitoring attendance with earlier and speedier referrals to the Occupational Physician.

The following figures cover staff within VLA for absences beginning in the years listed:

Year
1998	10
1999	20
2000	20
2001	15
2002	20

VLA is committed to the effective management of sickness absence and to meeting sickness absence reduction targets.

TB Tests

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what efforts her Department makes to trace the source of a bovine TB reactor in cases where the cattle was (a) not born on the holding and (b) brought onto the holding since the last bovine TB tests. [108767]

Mr. Morley: Where there is evidence, following epidemiological investigation, that bovine tuberculosis has been introduced by the movement of infected cattle onto the premises, such movements are traced back and, where appropriate, the originating herd is tested for TB.

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TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Budget (Scotland)

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the statement in paragraph 3.22 of the Budget report encompasses Scotland. [110154]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 28 April 2003]: Paragraph 3.22 of the Budget report does not encompass Scotland; the paragraph describes the position in relation to England. Pharmacy control of entry regulations are devolved and Devolved Administrations made their own announcements regarding their responses to the OFT's recommendation on pharmacy entry controls on 26 March 2003.

Gibraltar

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had on marking Gibraltar's 300th anniversary with a commemorative stamp issue for 2004; and what representations were received on the issue. [109552]

Mr. Timms: None. The stamp programme is a matter for Royal Mail, which as I understand, had a number of representations on this issue.

Special Advisers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the salary bill was for special advisers in her Department in 2002–03; and what it is expected to be in 2003–04. [108492]

Ms Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 28 April 2003, Official Report, column 45W.

Supermarkets

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effect on the UK economy of the growth of multinational supermarket chains. [105899]

Miss Melanie Johnson: As part of the process of globalisation and greater integration of the world economy, there has been a trend by some of the largest food retailers, in the UK and other countries, to expand their business beyond the borders of their country of origin. We welcome overseas investment that improves competition in markets, which is to the benefit of consumers and the UK economy as a whole.

Trading Standards Professionals

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many scholarships were awarded to Trading Standards professionals under the Department of Trade and Industry's Modernisation Fund in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002; and how many scholarships have been budgeted for (i) 2003 and (ii) 2004. [110419]

Miss Melanie Johnson: As part of the Modernisation Fund for consumer protection, extra funding has been provided to support the training and development of Trading Standards professionals by funding scholarships, which help local authorities increase the

30 Apr 2003 : Column 387W

number of staff they train. In 2001–02, 167 candidates were supported by scholarships, and in 2002–03, 216 candidates received funding.

£1 million has been made available in 2003–04 to continue to support the training of Trading Standards personnel.

WALES

NHS Dentistry

10. Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet the First Secretary to discuss NHS dentistry. [109794]

Mr. Touhig: I meet the First Secretary regularly to discuss a range of issues including health care in Wales.

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